5: Chapter 5 The Surprise in the Trash Can

The evening wind cut across his face like a knife. Zhang Fan pulled up his collar and hurried toward the subway station.

Inside the subway carriage, it was warm and cozy. Across from him, a couple was feeding each other strawberry cake. Pink cream stained the girl's mouth, and the boy wiped it away with his thumb, laughing as his finger brushed her chin. Zhang Fan turned away, staring at the retreating darkness outside the window. His stomach churned—he had only drunk half a bottle of mineral water since morning.

Passing the platform convenience store, he fished out the last coin from his pocket and bought two cold buns. The plastic bag pressed against his palm, the buns as hard as two stones.

At 8:10 PM, he stood at the entrance of Peoples Square.

The plane trees, wrapped in colorful lights, cast dappled shadows on the ground. Young people in matching outfits held hands, and girls carrying roses smiled brightly. Even the air was filled with the sweet scent of perfume. Zhang Fan gripped the plastic bag tightly; the sharp edges of the buns made his palm numb, making him feel completely out of place in the surrounding festivities.

He found a bench near the trash cans on the west side and sat down, pretending to browse his phone while keeping his eyes glued to the row of green bins. The words on the system panel were like a brand—"21:00, Peoples Square Trash Can No. 3, A famous jewelry brand gold necklace."

A cold wind swirled scraps of paper past his ankles. He shivered, suddenly feeling ridiculously absurd.

A computer science graduate from a top university, and until today, a core member of Blue Whale Games with a monthly salary of over ten thousand yuan—now he was crouching by a trash can, waiting for a necklace from a "system prophecy." If Gu Jingshen knew about this, he’d be laughing until next year's Valentine's Day.

"Tsk, how filthy."

Zhang Fan looked back and saw a girl in a Lolita dress. With her white lace skirt and pink curly hair, her exquisite makeup made her look like a doll in a shop window.

The girl went by the name "Cute Lolita." She was a local minor influencer—not many followers, but she had quite the attitude.

Today, the top donor in her stream, "Big Brother Hui," said he had a surprise for her and asked to meet at Peoples Square. She had specifically worn her new Lolita dress, and her legs were shivering from the cold. After waiting for ages, she hadn't seen a sign of him.

She had noticed Zhang Fan long ago—not because he was special, but because all the benches were taken by couples, and the only empty spot was occupied by this vagrant eating buns, forcing her to stand while waiting for the top donor.

She had been wandering the square in ten-centimeter heels for nearly half an hour. Her ankles were already rubbed raw, and it hurt so much she just wanted a place to rest.

Cute Lolita approached with a frown. Seeing the man's face, she thought he was somewhat handsome, but what else could a guy eating cold buns alone in the square on Valentine's Day be but a vagrant?

She moved aside, deliberately keeping half a meter of distance. Catching a glimpse of the man finishing another bun and wiping his mouth with his sleeve, she couldn't help but let out a sound of disgust.

Zhang Fan squeezed the bun in his hand and said nothing.

Cute Lolita rolled her eyes and shifted further away with loathing, as if he carried some kind of virus.

She was calculating rapidly in her head: When the top donor arrives, check the gift first—if it's over twenty thousand, she'd spend the night at the nearby hotel with him. After all, the "Carnival" gift he tipped last time hadn't been "repaid" yet.

If he tried to dismiss her with a cheap bouquet of flowers, she’d make an excuse and slip away. She had already scheduled the second half of the night with her "Sugar Daddy." He had said that if she served him well this time, he’d give her a Hermes bag.

A moment later, a man in a suit walked over quickly. His hair was slicked back, but he couldn't hide his nervous hand-wringing.

It was Big Brother Hui.

His knuckles were white from gripping the bouquet. When he reached the girl, his palms were sweating from nerves: "Mengmeng... hello, I'm Big Brother Hui from the stream. Um... Happy Valentine's Day."

Cute Lolita looked up and scanned him. Her gaze lingered on his ill-fitting suit. As she took the bouquet, her fingers quickly felt around the flowers. Finding no hard box, the smile on her face vanished instantly: "Is this it?"

"Ah... there's another surprise. Look closely, I picked it out specially. It's very beautiful and expensive..." Big Brother Hui panicked, flustered as he tried to point it out, but the girl impatiently interrupted him.

"Forget it, the square is too cold. I'm going home." She pulled the flowers to her chest and turned to leave, her tone as dismissive as if she were shooing away a beggar. "Let's meet another time."

Her high heels clicked loudly on the ground as she walked away. Big Brother Hui stood frozen in place, still clutching an open red velvet box that was completely empty.

The wind lifted the hem of his suit jacket, revealing the misshapen work pants underneath.

He had secretly worn his brother-in-law's suit this morning, not expecting to find twenty thousand yuan in cash in the pocket. In a moment of madness, he went to A famous jewelry brand to buy a necklace and hid it in the bouquet, thinking it would be romantic and give her a surprise.

But she hadn't even given the bouquet a proper look.

He stared at the girl's retreating back, his Adam's apple bobbing as the light in his eyes slowly dimmed. His phone suddenly rang; it was his brother-in-law's furious voice: "You little brat! You stole my suit? Get your ass back here right now! Or I'll break your legs!"

Big Brother Hui shuddered. He looked in the direction the girl had disappeared, finally sighed, and turned to run toward the bus stop, his suit billowing in the wind like a tattered sack.

Zhang Fan's heart was thumping.

He watched Big Brother Hui run off, then looked at Cute Lolita—she was walking quickly toward the third trash can on the west side and threw the bouquet in with disgust, her movements as swift as if she were discarding something filthy.

"Poor loser, calling himself a top donor. What a joke," she muttered, turning to hail a taxi. As the car door closed, she could be seen touching up her lipstick in the rearview mirror, a mocking smile on her lips.

Zhang Fan's breath suddenly hitched.

The time on the system panel jumped to exactly 21:00.

The cold wind blew rose petals out of the trash can, revealing a hint of a red velvet edge.

People came and went around him. Couples laughed as they passed, no one noticing the discarded bouquet, and even less noticing the man on the bench who suddenly stood up.

Zhang Fan clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white.

To pick it up, or not?

"If it's embarrassing, so be it," he told himself, his voice so soft it was scattered by the wind. "Doing it for a living isn't embarrassing."

He walked quickly to the trash can and bent over to rummage through the roses. The petals were damp with a bit of rain and still very fresh.

"Holy crap, there's actually someone scavenging trash?"

Cute Lolita's voice came from behind. Before getting into the taxi, she had looked back and spat, catching this scene. The disgust on her face seemed to overflow.

She had seen a post on Little Red Book this morning saying that on Valentine's Day, people were organizing groups to scavenge discarded flowers and gifts, even saying they’d give the found flowers to their girlfriends.

Looking at Zhang Fan's back now, she sneered—as expected of such a poor loser, doing anything for a bit of money.

Zhang Fan didn't hear the mockery behind him. He picked up the bouquet and found a golden ornament on it. If one didn't look closely, it really looked like a decorative chain the flower shop had attached for aesthetics.

If the system hadn't told him in advance it was a gold necklace, he probably would have treated it as a worthless trinket.

Zhang Fan carefully picked the necklace out of the flowers. The streetlight fell on the chain, spreading a warm yellow glow. The texture of the pure gold shimmered heavily in the night.

The pendant was a small "Love" character, its edges polished smooth and round, clearly a meticulously chosen style.

He flipped the pendant over; the label was still firmly attached, with clear white text on a black background: "999 Pure Gold, 19,988 Yuan." Flipping it further, the back was engraved with the hallmark of A famous jewelry brand, and a small certificate was attached. The four gilded words "Inspection Passed" sparkled under the streetlight.

It was real.

Zhang Fan gripped the necklace tightly, his palms soaked in sweat. He looked up at the crowd still bustling in the square and suddenly felt that this cold Valentine's Day finally had a bit of hope.